birthday

My daughter turned 3 last week. She requested a princess birthday party, and I was happy to oblige. We didn’t have a full blown birthday party this year, but we did have grandparents over for lunch, cake and presents. It was a great low-key party and she loved it.

When I started looking at cakes for this princess party I found so many beautiful and some truly over the top cakes that I knew I did not have the time nor the skill for. Like this and this. But then I found some castle cakes that looked great and actually do-able for the amateur cake maker. Here are the links to the cakes that inspired the cake I wound up making for Betsy. This and this for the cake itself and then this for the towers. As you can see I pretty must combined a bunch of great ideas others had to put this together. Thank you, internet, pinterest and all of those creative types who share your great ideas with the rest of us!

To make the towers I brushed melted almond bark on to cake cones, I made more than 10 but 10 is all I used. After it dried I used a little more of it to stick them together. For shorter towers simply use one cone.

I also used the almond bark to coat 5 sugar cones (again, I made more than 5 just in case which was good since I did knock one on to the floor and it shattered) that I then covered in pink sugar.

With the left over almond bark I dipped the ends of both large and small marshmallows and then dipped them in pink and white sugar. I did a bunch of these and did not use them all.

I also piped what I thought might be windows or doors out of some of the almond bark and sprinkled them with pink sugar. I did not have a set decorating plan, as you can tell. I only ended up using one of them.

Using 2 boxes of cake mix I baked up a 9×13 cake, an 8-inch square cake and 2 round 4-inch cakes. Cake mix for the win!

I whipped up a batch of this frosting. It was just enough to frost everything.

I bought a cake board at a local cake shop in Sugar Land that I just found out existed thanks to my friend Katie, Cake Craft Shoppe. I see many more trips there in my future. They have decoarting classes, too…

After leveling all of the layers using this handy tool, I started layering the cakes and put on a crumb coat. First the 9×13.

Then the 8×8.

Then the two rounds.

After chilling it all I put on another coat of frosting. Then I started decorating. I used plain mini marshmallows, white sugared minis and white sugared large marshmallows. When we were shopping one day Betsy saw these pink sprinkles and had to have them. They’re bubble gum flavored and taste terrible (unless you’re 3) but I loved the way they looked on the cake.

I pressed the bottoms of the towers into the very top and corners of the 9×13 cake. I left off the top sugar cones since I had to store this overnight and my fridge would not accommodate the height.

When it was time to have cake I simply placed the sugar cones on top and walked very carefully to bring the cake to Betsy. She loved it, as you can probably tell.

At some point after the candles were blown out someone (I think it might have been me?) knocked one of the cones off. So, if you want a more sturdy ice cream cone tower then I suggest sticking them together with some icing.

For my daughter’s 2nd birthday I wanted to make a cake that she’d appreciate not only for its sugar content but for its appearance. This kitty cat cake was perfect for my animal loving girl!

All you need for this cake are 2 8-inch round cakes, no need for a uni-tasking cat shaped pan. And you don’t have to do much cake shaping, either. Leave one cake whole and cut the other in to a head, ears and tail.

This next step is the hardest. Using your favorite frosting recipe, this is mine, stick the pieces together and then frost the cake, being careful around the cut edges. This first coating of frosting is your crumb coat, so a few crumbs are ok and it doesn’t need to be totally covered. You’ll do that next.

Put the cake in the fridge for an hour or two, then frost another time to get a pretty, smooth and crumb-free layer.

Now you can decorate! I colored some of my vanilla frosting pink and then I just bought a tube of black icing (this one from Wilton) because making your own black icing can be tough.

She was so excited when we put this cake in front of her. Thankfully at 2 she didn’t care that it wasn’t perfectly frosted or that it kinda looked like a rabbit 🙂 Happy Birthday, sweet Betsy!

This vanilla cake was one of the many sweet treats we had at Betsy’s 1st birthday party, but the only one I made from scratch. I am a sucker for cake mixes a lot of the time. They’re easy, reliable, and pretty tasty. But there’s something about a scratch cake that is just special. And if there’s a time to have a special cake, it’s at a birthday party!

This vanilla cake is from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. I picked the cookbook up after a trip to visit my sister in New York where I went on a cupcake tasting tour (guided by yours truly with only one participant…myself). I tried Magnolia Bakery, Cupcake Cafe and Billy’s Bakery. I think there was one other? I don’t remember. I’ve had 2 kids since then. But Magnolia is one of the best and the shop is darling and wonderful. It’s definitely a fun place to visit…unless you end up fighting someone for a cupcake after waiting in line for hours. The first time I went there was hardly a soul in the place and so it was a very pleasant experience for me. Another time I was going to go with my sister and as we approached the store and saw the line we turned around and returned empty handed. Workdays are probably a good bet, but I’m not making any promises since I don’t have enough experience. I do think it’s safe to say that weekends will always be crazy.

To make this cake a little special I dyed the layers in shades of purple. It didn’t turn out as “ombre” as I would’ve liked. The colors are too close to the same shade, so if you decide to try the ombre cake make sure that the batters are very different from each other.

The vanilla buttercream is from the same cookbook and is tremendously delicious. I love frosting. This one comes out beautifully white, especially if you use this vanilla. This clear vanilla has a nostalgic flavor for me and is different than pure natural vanilla. In most cases I prefer natural vanilla, and often I use this vanilla paste because I love the vanilla bean flecks. But with a classic vanilla birthday cake I think the clear vanilla is the way to go. Use what you have, but do give the clear vanilla a try if you see it somewhere!

This is definitely a cake I’ll come back to and recommend others try when they want to bake a cake from scratch. It’s really not terribly difficult or time consuming and it’s a nice change from a box cake. Eat up and enjoy!

Grease three 9-inch cake pans, line the bottoms with a parchment circle, grease parchment and flour the pans. Set aside.

Combine the flours in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter until light, then gradually pour in the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each. Scrape the bottom of the bowl and beat again to combine.

Alternate adding the flour and milk in 5 parts, beginning and ending with the flour, beating until just combined in between additions. Fold the batter a few times with a large spatula to make sure it is mixed well.

Now you can either dye your layers or divide the batter between the pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let cool on racks for 15 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges and remove the cakes from the pans. Peel off the parchment and let cool completely.

Dye the cup of batter by scooping some gel color out of the pot and mixing it in very well. You want this to be dark, a little darker shade than you want your darkest layer. Adjust by adding more batter or more color.

Divide the rest of the batter evenly into three small bowls.

Take your dyed batter and add one spoonful to the first bowl, 3 spoonfuls to the second bowl and 5 spoonfuls to the third bowl. Divide any remaining colored batter among the bowls to achieve shades that are very distinct. Fold gently until the color is evenly distributed. Be careful to not overmix.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pans and bake as above.

*If you’re analyzing these instructions you’ll realize that after adding the colored batter your bowls of batter won’t be divided equally anymore. You’ll have more batter in the darkest layer. So just go with it and accept that they won’t be exactly the same OR you can divide the batter a little unevenly to begin with and then even it out with the colored batter. That method would involve too much brain power for me. The reason I did not add the color directly to the batter is that you have to do more mixing to get a solid and even color, and overmixed cake batter can lead to a heavier cake texture. This less precise method led to better overall color in my cakes and the cake was still light.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

8 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons clear vanilla

pinch of salt

Directions

Beat the butter until creamy.

Beat in 4 cups of the powdered sugar, the milk, salt and vanilla until very smooth and creamy.

Add the remaining sugar, one cup at a time, beating well, until it reaches the desired consistency.